Os Mutantes is a Brazilian psychedelic rock band formed during the Tropical… Read Full Bio ↴Os Mutantes is a Brazilian psychedelic rock band formed during the Tropicalista Movement in 1966, in São Paulo, by Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee and Sérgio Dias.

The band is considered one of the main groups in Brazilian rock. Like most groups from the 1960s, Os Mutantes were heavily influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone. However, Brazilian musicians were also immersed in their local culture, exercising their own creativity in the use of feedback, distortion and studio tricks of all kinds, just as was done by the Liverpool quartet and the group The Beach Boys. In this sense, Mutantes were pioneers in mixing rock and roll with Brazilian musical and thematic elements. Another characteristic of the group was irreverence. Like Os Mutantes, there began to be a kind of mixture of foreign and Brazilian music and the addition of new ideas, with doses of experimentalism, thus opening the way for musical hybridism.

Os Mutantes began their activities in 1966, as a trio, when they performed on the program O Pequeno Mundo de Ronnie Von on TV Record. On the eve of the program's premiere, the trio had the name "Os Bruxos", but neither Rita Lee nor the Dias Baptista brothers (Arnaldo and Sérgio) were satisfied with that name and wanted to change it. According to Carlos Calado,[2] the idea for the name "Os Mutantes" came from an ironic joke between Alberto Helena Júnior, the program's producer, and Ronnie Von, who, at the time, was reading O Império dos Mutantes, by Stefan Wul, and did not talk about any other subject. "Are you guys still looking for a name for the boys ensemble? Why not The Mutants?" Ronnie Von liked Alberto Helena's idea and took it to the group, who approved it immediately.

The group soon became one of the main exponents of the new MPB, influenced by Tropicália, until it dissolved in 1978. Over these twelve years, nine albums were recorded, two of which - O A e o Z and Tecnicolor - were only released on 1990s, when the group began to be recognized, on the national and international rock scene, as one of the most creative, dynamic, radical and talented of the psychedelic era and the history of world rock. In 2006, the band reunited, without Rita Lee or Liminha, but with the presence of Arnaldo Baptista and Zélia Duncan on vocals. The following year, Arnaldo and Zélia left the band, which was recomposed with other musicians and continues to perform under the leadership of Sérgio Dias, the only remaining member of the original lineup.

Hey Joe
Os Mutantes Lyrics

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Som para acordar
Amanheceu
Tudo em paz
Para cantar
A Música

O vento, terra e o ar
Soprando aqui

Na luz do luar
Na luz do sol
Na luz de Deus

Hey Joe,
Eu vi isto acontecer
Hey Joe,
Senti do meu coração
Pertenço a você
Pois é, tudo bem, meu bem

Hey Joe,
Está aqui
Ele é o nosso deus

Todos juntos reunidos
Numa pessoa só

Overall Meaning

These Portuguese lyrics translate to: “Sound to wake up, it dawned, everything in peace, to sing music. The wind, earth and air blowing here in the light of the moon, in the light of the sun, in the light of God. Hey Joe, I saw this happen, hey Joe, I felt it in my heart, I belong to you, well, okay, my love. Hey Joe, he's here, he's our god. All together in one person.”

Os Mutantes’s version of “Hey Joe” is a psychedelic take on the classic song originally recorded by The Leaves and made famous by Jimi Hendrix. The Brazilian band infuses their own elements of tropicalia and Latin rhythms with a trippy instrumental section featuring distorted guitar solos and unconventional sounds. This interpretation of “Hey Joe” seems to focus more on the spiritual/religious aspects of the lyrics, referencing “God” and “one person” in the final verse. The repetitive chanting of “Hey Joe” throughout the song could be interpreted as a mantra, reinforcing the spiritual message. Overall, the song is a unique and intriguing interpretation of a classic rock hit.

Line by Line Meaning

Som para acordar
Music to wake up

Amanheceu
Dawned

Tudo em paz
Everything is peaceful

Para cantar
To sing

A Música
The music

O vento, terra e o ar
The wind, earth, and air

Soprando aqui
Blowing here

Na luz do luar
In the moonlight

Na luz do sol
In the sunlight

Na luz de Deus
In God's light

Hey Joe,
Hey Joe,